Mystical Horns and Powerful Feathers
by Unimaginable Possibilities
Summary: FINAL CHAPTER UP! The Huntsmaster is badly wounded. Huntsgirl is completely on her own this time. Can Jake protect the one thing Huntsmaster needs to recover from his injury from a very determined Huntsgirl?
1. Chapter 1

Okay, this is my first attempt at a fan fiction from a TV show. I hope I get all the character's personalities right. If not, I'm sure you guys will tell me. I just hope that it isn't in a flame.:) Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own _AD:JL_ in any way. I do, however, own my characters and this story idea. This disclaimer is for the whole story.

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**Mystical Horns and Powerful Feathers**

**Chapter 1**

It was a peaceful Saturday night as the Huntsmaster strolled along one of the many cemented pathways that wound themselves around Central Park. He was contemplating on how he was going to distract that insolent American Dragon while he stole the most important ingredient he needed for a spell he was working on. As he went over his ingenious plan for the tenth time in his head, he stumbled upon a break in some trees not far ahead. He had been this way of the park many times before and did not remember there ever being a gap that big. Creeping along the broader parts of the enormous maple in front of him, he finally came close enough to peer into the opening. What he saw made his jaw drop in shock.

XXXXX

"Jake!" Grandpa shouted. "Pay attention!"

Jake sat up quickly. He was looking out the window admiring a clear blue sky. It was Sunday morning and Spud, Trixi, and he were all going to go to the skate park. It's better if they go early; that way they'll have the park pretty much to themselves. He discreetly glanced at his watch. _They should have been here any time now_, he thought.

"How are you supposed to protect these creatures if you don't even know where they're located?" Grandpa snapped.

"Chill out, G. I'm with you. They're hidden in Central Park in some secret tree or something," Jake glanced from Grandpa to Fu Dog, who was making a weird noise and shaking his head.

"Cough_grove_cough," he said. Jake raised an eyebrow.

"You okay, Fu?"

Fu Dog slapped his forehead with his paw and groaned.

"The creatures, Jake, are _not_ hidden inside a _tree_," said Grandpa impatiently. "The trees, along with a small bit of magic, block the secret _grove_ from prying eyes."

"Hey, if it's already _that_ protected, why do I have to watch over it too?" complained Jake.

"Because the grove was discovered last night somehow, and by the creature's description of the intruder, it sounded like it was the Huntsmaster," explained Fu Dog.

"This is why I am sending you out tonight to look after them," said Grandpa as someone knocked on the door. The shop wasn't open yet, so, obviously, the front door was still locked.

"Finally," Jake sighed. Grandpa glared at him. "I mean, yeah, okay no problem," Jake said in a rush while wearing a sheepish grin. He ran over and opened the door to let in Trixi and Spud.

"Sup, ya'll?" greeted Trixi as she and Spud made their way into the tiny shop. They were both carrying their boards and wearing helmets.

"Hey, Jake, you ready to go or what?" asked Spud.

"Yeah, I'm ready." He looked over at Grandpa anxiously.

"Fine, you may go, but remember—"

"Yeah, I got it. Protect the creatures. No problem, G," Jake said while he grabbed his board and helmet. The three of them made their way out the door as Grandpa and Fu Dog exchanged apprehensive looks.

XXXXX

The Huntsmaster was overlooking the spell once more before he set out to get the last ingredient he needed. He glanced over at Huntsgirl. She was waiting patiently for instructions.

"Are you positive that the American Dragon will be no where near our location?" he asked her.

"Yes, Huntsmaster. That impudent dragon will be busy with a problem _far_ from where we will be. I made sure of it," she replied maliciously.

"Excellent. Then it is time," he said with anticipation. She nodded her head in acknowledgement.

XXXXX

"Man, I thought I'd never get out of there quick enough. I am _so_ ready to show off my new Mac-daddy moves, know what I'm sayin'?" bragged Jake as they walked towards the skate park.

"Uh huh, so Jakey, what were you and your gramps talkin' 'bout anyway?" Trixi asked.

"Oh, you know, just hero stuff," he replied casually.

"Cool, bro. You should definitely tell us about it," said Spud with enthusiasm.

"It's nothing, really. Just some secret grove thing in Cent—"

"American Dragon!" a tiny voice squeaked next to Jake's ear. Jake glanced around and spotted a dragonfly near his head…wait, was it a dragonfly? He looked closer at it and realized that the minuscule creature had the wings of a dragonfly, but it had the body of a slender young woman with ankle-length brown hair and blue skin. She gazed up at him fearfully with huge green eyes. He recognized her at once as a nature pixie from Grandpa's book. They're extremely important because they care for every tree, every plant, every flower, even every blade of grass.

"Yo, what's up?" asked Jake in a concerned tone.

"You must come quickly! My fellow pixies have been capture by night! You must come free them or all the nature within a hundred miles will wither away! Nature has to be tended to each second of the entire day!" she exclaimed. Jake glanced around and sure enough; spring was steadily turning into autumn.

"What do you mean that they have been captured by night?" Jake asked.

"I'm not sure what it is. It's dark and cold… like a shadow… an evil shadow," she said trembling.

"Lead the way," he said determined.

XXXXX

Huntsmaster and Huntsgirl vanished from the room and reappeared far outside of the city near the tallest tree they had ever seen. Huntsgirl began to climb the tree, but the Huntsmaster held her back.

"No, it will be me who acquires the last ingredient," he said firmly.

"Uh, yes, Huntsmaster," she replied.

He tapped his scepter on the ground twice and stepped onto the newly materialized flying disc. The disc took him up to the tip of the tree where he found what he was looking for. On the highest branch there lay an enormous nest, and in the nest was a massive bird of the utmost beauty. Its smooth golden feathers glistened in the sunlight while its sparkling sapphire eyes stared threateningly at the trespasser. It opened its slender black beak to let out an earsplitting cry. The sound waves unexpectedly thrust the Huntsmaster backwards off of the disc. Reflexively one of his hands grabbed onto the disc, and he was able to pull himself back up. He brought it down to the ground where Huntsgirl was anxiously waiting.

"Did you succeed, Huntsmaster?" she asked.

"No," he snapped. "The bird is too powerful. I need you to distract her while I sneak around and steal one of her tail feathers."

"How do you know it's a she?" Huntsgirl inquired innocently.

"Because she had blue eyes and a black beak. The males have red eyes and a silver beak," he explained impatiently. "Now, come!" He motioned for her to jump on.

They rose to the top once more. Huntsgirl leapt off the disc with her arms outstretched to grab the branch nearest to the nest. She flipped around in the enormous tree trying to avoid the bird's constant overpowering screeches. The bird's gaze followed her while the Huntsmaster flew behind her and reached out his hand. His fingers were inches away from obtaining one of the bird's magnificent feathers. He was so focused with the tail of the bird that he didn't notice when the bird suddenly snapped her head in his direction. Her sharp talons quickly found their way to the Huntsmaster's body, and they soon pierced through the skin of his left side. He cried out in pain.

"Huntsmaster!" exclaimed Huntsgirl.

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Please review! I need to know if it's good enough to continue. I don't mind flames because they help me improve, but please try not to be too offensive. :) 

Oh, by the way, I'm not sure if that's how you spell Trixi's name, so if you guys know the correct spelling could you tell me in a review or something, please? Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow, I can't believe I already have five reviews and none of them are flames. Whoo hoo! Actually, the reviews I received were awesome. Thank you so much to those who reviewed.

Cellosolo2007—Hey, thanks for the spelling correction and your review! Flames don't bother me that much. It just hurts a little bit, you know? Anyway, thanks for your advice, though I can't really cuss them out in this story. It is K+ after all. :)

KrazieShadowNinja—Oh yeah, that's a good story so far. I love the necklace idea. Anyway, thanks for your review! I like the bird too. What she is will be revealed in chapter 3. No, you weren't my first reviewer, but that doesn't matter cos your review made my day anyway. Thanks. :)

Worker72—Thanks for reviewing my story! And the spell that Huntsmaster is trying to make will be exposed in chapter 3 along with what the bird is. :)

AmericanDragonFan—Yes, this _is_ actually my first attempt, and thank you very much for saying that it was good! I tried my best to make sure that the character's personalities showed through. I'm glad you liked it. :)

IndependentGirl—Thank you so much! But, I haven't really given much thought about doing a second story, and to be honest I don't know if there will be one. The idea for this story just sort of came to me out of the blue, and it seemed fun to write and see what you guys thought of it. The wait is over, here's the next chapter. :)

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**Chapter 2**

Jake followed the anxious pixie into the exact middle of Central Park with Spud and Trixie close behind. The pixie stopped abruptly and stared into the vast clearing. She looked extremely worried.

"Dude, why've we stopped? There's like, nothing here," Spud said as he looked around the deserted area.

"I think that's the problem, Spud," answered Trixie in a tone that plainly said 'duh'.

"I don't understand," the pixie squeaked depressingly. "I left them right here." Her wings began to droop.

"Hey, don't worry, uh…" began Jake. "Um…what's your name?"

"We do not have names, American Dragon, but you may call me Iris. That is the flower I tend to," she explained while wiping a tear from her eyes.

"Well, we'll find them, Iris. I give you my word," Jake said. He turned to Trixie and Spud. "Will you guys help me search for clues?"

"Course we will, Jakey," replied Trixie.

"Yeah, sure, bro," agreed Spud.

"Great. If you come across anything out of the ordinary, shout." They began to circle the area when Spud suddenly tugged on Jake's sleeve.

"Hey, Jake. Look how weird that looks." He pointed ahead of them.

"I don't see anything but that tree, Spud," he said.

"Exactly. Why is it that the grass under the tree's shadow is greener and longer than all of the grass everywhere else?" he asked. Jake thought about it for a second. Iris said that they were captured by a shadow, and come to think of it, that shadow was much bigger than the tree's normal shadow would have been.

"You're a genius, Spud!" Jake exclaimed.

"Yeah, alright!" Spud said excitedly. His enthusiasm soon became confusion. "Wait… what did I say that was good?" But Jake didn't answer him. He stepped up to the shadow of the tree, and glanced around to make sure no one was watching.

"Dragon up!" Jake shouted. He quickly transformed from boy to dragon. He reached down to grab one of the many pixies that were now fluttering about, but before he could get close enough, his claws collided with an unseen force enclosing the tiny flying creatures. He pulled his paw back as the shadow hissed and rose up from the ground leaving the pixies free to scatter from its clutches. It watched them flee with glowing red eyes. They narrowed angrily as it whirled around to face Jake.

"You cosssst me my breakfasssst, dragon, and now you will pay," it hissed in a deadly whisper. How, Jake wasn't sure because it didn't look like it had a mouth… or any part resembling anything human-like for that matter. It was like a big blob of darkness.

"Aw, sorry, yo," Jake replied arrogantly. "I don't have any money…. No pockets! Heh ha!"

"Ohhh, I have ssssomething elsssse in mind for payment. Ssssomething very valuable. Ssssomething you treassssure," it hissed. His eyes glittered with malice. Jake looked at it with confusion. It rolled its eyes.

"Your life, idiot," it hissed with annoyance.

"Oh, right. Well, come and get it then… if you have the guts!" he said smoothly. Laughing, he turned to Trixie and Spud. "Get it? Heh, cos he's a shadow and they don't have—"

"Jake, look out!" yelled Trixie as she pointed behind him, but it was too late. No sooner did Jake face the shadow before the creature was upon him. It wrapped itself around the dragon and began to squeeze him. Jake couldn't breathe. He struggled violently, but the more he did so, the tighter the shadow squeezed. It laughed maniacally.

"Issss that the besssst you can do, you pitiful lizzzzard?"

Jake began to panic.

XXXXX

The shop grew unusually quiet after Jake and his friends left, but Grandpa and Fu Dog didn't have to wait very long for the silence to be broken. They were in the back of the shop preparing to open when a sudden commotion broke out in the front.

"What is going on? Fu Dog, go check what the problem is," said Grandpa as he was too busy to go look himself. Fu began to walk towards the door that entered into the front of the shop. He stopped just before going out and looked down at his hind legs. Sighing heavily, he dropped down to all fours and made his way out. Fu's eyes bulged as the peculiar scene reached him. He slowly backed himself back through the door.

"Uh…Gramps? I think you'd better get out there," Fu said uneasily. Grandpa looked at him questionably.

XXXXX

Spud and Trixie watched with wide, fearful eyes. They tried to get to Jake during the whole time that he was in the creature's clutches, but something was holding them back. They were forced to watch helplessly from the side. Then suddenly, they heard a ringing sound.

"Aw, jeez, Trix. Your phone's like, totally ruining the suspense," Spud said. She turned to glare at him, her hands on her hips.

"It isn't mine, Spud," she spat. "Look." She pointed at the creature, which was now holding a black mobile phone in its newly materialized hand.

"What issss it?" it asked. Its voice sounded irritated.

"It's done," the voice on the other line said. The shadow creature hung up and then let go of Jake. The dragon dropped to his hands and knees gasping for air.

"Ssssee ya later, dragon. We'll play again very ssssoon." He laughed evilly and flew out of sight.

"Come back and fight, you coward!" Jake shouted hoarsely to the retreating back of the shadow. Trixie and Spud rushed over to help him up.

"You okay, Jakey?" Trixie asked sympathetically.

"I'm fine. Why didn't you guys try to help me?"

"We _did_ try, bro. Honest," Spud said.

"Yeah, but that shadow dude held us back somehow. It was weird," Trixie added.

"This whole morning was weird. Why did it let me go?" Jake asked.

"What do you mean? You were there. Didn't you hear the ringin'?" inquired Trixie.

"I heard ringing alright, but I thought it was cos I was so close to passing out," Jake replied.

"Oh, bro, the ringing was from a cell phone that the shadow thing had, and when it answered, a voice on the other line said that something was done and then it let you go," Spud explained dramatically. Jake thought about what Spud said, but then grew frustrated.

"Man, none of this makes sense!" Jake exclaimed. "Let's go to my Gramps' shop. Maybe he can figure this thing out."

XXXXX

Huntsgirl threw aside the phone she was holding and glanced over at her leader. They were back in their hideout. Huntsmaster was lying on the couch in pretty bad shape. The talons from the bird cut into him deeply. Huntsgirl had wrapped bandages around his wound previously, but they were already soaked through. While she re-bandaged him, Huntsmaster muttered angrily to himself.

"My plan was flawless… But, I underestimated the power of that stupid bird… As soon as I'm well, I will _not_ fail again…" He glanced down at his injury. It looked horrible. "There must be some way to heal this quicker—" he broke off and his eyes widened as he remembered his stroll through the park the previous night. "Huntsgirl!" he shouted anxiously, then doubled over in pain.

"Yes?" she answered obediently. It took him a while to recover, but when he did there was a glint of madness in his face.

"I need you to go to Central Park," he said as he scribbled directions on a piece of paper. "I need you to go to this exact location, and when you find it, I want you to bring me back the horn of a unicorn." Huntsgirl looked at him in surprise. Her first assignment alone… she couldn't believe it.

"Yes, of course, Huntsmaster," she replied, trying to keep her voice calm. She turned to leave, but he called her back.

"And Huntsgirl…"

"Yes?"

"Do _not_ fail me," he said menacingly. She nodded her head once and disappeared through the door.

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Okay, that's it. Please review! 


	3. Chapter 3

Jeez, your guys seem really eager for this chapter. I will admit that it is pretty informative. Anyway, thanks for your reviews! I don't know how long the next update will be because I'm going to Minnesota for a family reunion, but I will try to write on the plane or whenever I get a chance to.

For my reviewers:

Worker72—Thanks for your review! I try to post the new chapters as soon as I'm finished writing them. Enjoy!

CelloSolo2007—You wouldn't feel sorry for him if you knew what he was going to do later on in the story. I'm not going to tell you what was at Grandpa's door, but you can find out on your own by reading this chapter! Thanks for reviewing!

IndependentGirl—Thanks for reviewing! Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

KrazieShadowNinja—First, thanks for your review! And second, I know exactly how you feel. I was in a marching band as well, 'The Pride of Nevada'. We had camp for two weeks (the second to the last two in August, so of course they were scorching hot). For Mon-Fri, we did four hours in the morning, had an hour for lunch, and then four more hours in the afternoon. This consisted of marching our way through the show countless times. Then on Saturdays, we did sectionals for the same hours as Mon-Fri. Marching sucked my freshman year too, but don't worry. With all the practice you're probably going to go through, marching will be second nature. And don't forget sunscreen and LOTS of water! Enjoy this chapter!

horseluver101—Okay, okay. I updated. :) Thanks for reviewing my story! Enjoy this chapter!

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**Chapter 3**

Grandpa pushed open the door and walked into the front of his shop followed by Fu Dog, who looked a little worried. If Grandpa was surprised by the sight at all though, he didn't show it. He merely walked to his counter and waited patiently as he observed the disturbance. Creatures of all kinds were stuffed uncomfortably into Grandpa's small shop, and as unusual as this all was, it was nothing compared to the types of creatures that were there.

He saw nymphs, fairies, dwarves, leprechauns, sprites, tiny elves, pixies, and standing alone in a corner he noticed a pure white unicorn with a long golden mane and tail. All but the unicorn were loudly discussing something in a very concerned and troubled manner. Fu couldn't handle the noise any longer. He climbed atop the counter that Grandpa was positioned behind and stood on his hind legs to bring more attention unto himself.

"QUIET!" he yelled. The creatures ceased all conversations instantly and looked at Fu. Then they spotted Grandpa, and they began to complain to him in voices that were much more thunderous than they were previously. Fu buried his frustrated face in his paws. After a few minutes of irritated mutterings and the usage of some select words, his face emerged. He shrugged his shoulders in defeat and jumped off the counter. Grandpa held up his hand to die down the uproar, and, amazingly, the creatures fell silent. Fu glared at everyone as he walked towards the door. He locked it and then pulled down the blinds so no one would burst through and see the many magical creatures situated inside.

"Thank you," Grandpa said when the creatures finally became still. "Now, what seems to be the problem?" he asked calmly. Without any delay they all started talking at once again. Grandpa held up his hand for a second time. They unwillingly grew quiet. A young elf no taller than six inches stepped forward. She had spring green eyes, wore a flowing light golden dress, and had tiny flowers in her long auburn hair.

"Ah, Princess Charlotte, how nice to see you again," said Grandpa bowing slightly.

"And you, mighty dragon," she said. Her voice was filled with authority. "However, we have a serious situation on our hands. It needs to be dealt with at once."

"Of course, of course. Please, tell me what is wrong."

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. The creatures began to freak out at the thought of being discovered. They were stomping around and wrecking havoc throughout the store.

"Yo, G, open up!" Jake shouted through the door. "Hey, what's going on in there, Gramps? Are you having a party without _me_?"

"Calm down everybody!" Grandpa yelled. "It is only my grandson. Now please, control yourselves!" The creatures stopped. Grandpa spotted Fu by the door. "Fu, tell him to meet you on the roof. You cannot open that door and expect no one to see what is inside. We must be careful."

Fu did as he was told and minutes later met Jake and his two friends on the roof.

"Yo, Fu! What's going on down there?" Jake asked the moment he saw his wrinkly guardian.

"Not sure, kid. There are a lot of magical creatures in your Grandpa's shop though," he said.

"And you don't know why they're there?" Jake asked.

"Well, we were going to find out, but then you knocked on the door and the creatures went berserk," Fu explained.

"Then what are we doing up here still? Let's go see what's up," Jake suggested.

"Uh, I don't think bringing those two downstairs would be such a good idea, kid," said Fu Dog.

"Why not, Fu? They're cool with the whole 'magical creatures' thing," Jake pointed out.

"Yeah, _they_ might be, but, as I said earlier, the creatures ain't so keen on being exposed to the human eye," Fu explained. Jake opened his mouth to argue, but Fu cut him off. "Even if they already know," he said, gesturing to Spud and Trixie. "Sorry, kiddo," he added sympathetically because of the upset look Jake gave him.

"That's messed up, Fu," Jake stated.

"Don't worry 'bout it, Jakey. We'll wait up here and as soon as you're done talkin' downstairs, you can come up and tell us," said Trixie.

"You guys sure? I don't know how long it's going to take," Jake said.

"We'll be fine, bro."

"Yeah, and if I get too sick of hangin' 'round Spud alone, you can call me at my house," Trixie said with a smile.

"Yeah," Spud agreed. "Wait a minute! Now, _that's_ messed up!" Jake and Trixie busted up laughing.

"Just kiddin', Spud," she said, playfully punching his arm.

"Well, okay. If you guys are sure, I guess I'll go then," Jake said as he walked towards the door. "See ya."

"Latahs."

"See ya, bro."

Fu and Jake walked downstairs and through the door into the front of the shop.

"Whoa! Where'd they all come from, Fu?" Jake asked looking around. Fu shrugged his shoulders.

"Not sure, kid, but I'm suspecting they're from the Grove."

"What grove?" Jake asked in a confused tone.

"Are you serious?" Fu asked him contemptuously. "Were you even listening to us this morning?"

"Ooohh, _that_ grove. Yeah okay, I gotchya," Jake said while averting his eyes.

"You still don't know, do you?" Fu asked him monotonously.

"Well—"

"Jake! Get over here at once," Grandpa yelled. Jake grinned at a disapproving Fu Dog and made his way over to his grandpa, all the while making sure not to step on anyone.

"What's up, Gramps?" Jake asked as he reached the counter.

"We have a grave situation on our hands, young one. Princess Charlotte has just informed me of three alarming events that have happened in the past five hours. One you know about. Two you do not."

"Princess _who_? And how do you know which—" Jake began but was quickly cut off.

"Do not interrupt!" Grandpa snapped. Jake grimaced.

"Sorry."

"Now, it is very important that we figure this out soon, so pay attention. The first two events happened almost at the same time. We are led to believe that one of them was a diversion. We are quite certain that the one you were involved in was such while the Huntsmaster tried to steal a phoenix's feather. He was unsuccessful, but we have to keep a close eye on his clan and the phoenix. There is only one spell in history that requires a phoenix's feather. It is called the Spell of Aspiration. If the Huntsmaster had succeeded in obtaining the feather and making this potion, there would be no telling what he would do.

"The last event that happened concerned our unicorn friend here. Apparently, the phoenix injured the Huntsmaster while he was trying to steal one of her feathers. He sent one of his Huntsclan members, Huntsgirl I believe, to retrieve the unicorn's horn. Do you know what the horn of a unicorn can do, young one?"

"Uhh… nnno," Jake said timidly. "Not really, sorry."

"It can heal you instantly if you're hurt. Any type of injury, whether it be a broken bone, a deep wound, or even cure a disease," explained Fu.

"Yes, but the horn's healing powers must either come from within the unicorn, or it has to be removed from the unicorn's head. The latter is most unpleasant and is what Huntsgirl was trying to do… before she hesitated," said Grandpa.

"Whoa, whoa! Time out! Huntsgirl hesitated?" Jake asked in awe.

"And it's a good thing she did too," said a young male voice. Everyone looked around for the speaker and his or her eyes finally rested on the unicorn. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be here. My horn can be removed without me dying, but it didn't look like that was an option she had in mind."

"We spotted her in the brush and were able to do some fast bit of magic to shield the unicorn from her gaze, but it only lasted long enough for him to take cover here," squeaked a fairy that was hovering above the unicorn's head.

"So, where do I come in to all this?" Jake asked.

"You are to protect the unicorn while I keep the Huntsclan away from the phoenix until we can find a safe place to hide both of them," Grandpa explained.

"How am I supposed to protect him? He's way too big and… bright. He'll attract way too much attention," Jake complained.

"He is right, young unicorn. We must find a way to disguise you somehow. Fu Dog can make you a potion to conceal the unicorn you are and convert your form into something less noticeable," Grandpa suggested.

"As long as it wears off," he agreed. It took Fu an hour to make the potion. When he was finally finished, he gave the smoking purple liquid to the unicorn in a bowl so he could lap it up.

"Now, this potion will only last for two days. Got it? 48 hours. That's it," Fu explained.

"What will I turn into?" the unicorn asked, sniffing the mixture curiously. Fu shrugged.

"Whatever will make you less noticeable," he guessed.

The unicorn drank the potion with a disgusted look on his face. Everyone gasped as the unicorn changed instantly.

XXXXX

Huntsgirl began walking her third lap around Central Park. She had been thinking about what happened just an hour earlier. She had gone to the trees as instructed and found the secret grove. There were numerous magical creatures there, but she was told to only go after the unicorn. She had looked around the grove for twenty minutes trying to find it, being as inconspicuous as she possibly could be. When she finally located it, she held up her scepter and aimed. Then… she hesitated. She couldn't believe she could be so spineless! It was just a dumb old unicorn; I mean who cares, right? She sighed heavily. And now the unicorn was gone and she wasn't sure how she was going to find it.

_Huntsmaster must not know about this_, she told herself firmly. She turned over idea after idea in her head trying to figure out a way to get to the unicorn, each new idea becoming more and more absurd. Suddenly one of the Huntsclan appeared right in front of her. However, since she was still deep in thought, she walked head long into him.

"Watch where going, _girl_," he said with disgust.

"Oh, sor—," she began, and then stopped when she realized who it was. "What do _you_ want?" she asked with as much dislike as he showed.

"Huntsmaster wants to see you immediately," he said with a smirk. Huntsgirl's bright blue eyes grew wide.

_Oh, God! Does he know?_ she asked herself fearfully.

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Okay, review! 


	4. Chapter 4

Hey! Sorry it took so long to update. I had a little bit of writer's block. Still have it actually. That's why this chapter is a little shorter than the others, but I felt that you guys have waited long enough.

For my AWESOME Reviewers:

Worker72: Thanks for reviewing, but I'm afraid that your questions won't be answered until perhaps the next chapter. Sorry. :)

CelloSolo2007: Thank you so much!

KrazieShadowNinja: Again, sorry it took so long to update! Darn writer's block anyway! You almost fainted? Wow, well, you definitely have my sympathies. I know from experience how merciless the heat can be. Be more careful next time, okay? Btw, I began school on the 29th. Enjoy reading the newest addition!

horseluver101: Thank you! Here's the next chapter!

Heather: Thanks, I try. Here's the newest update!

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**Chapter 4**

Huntsgirl appeared before the Huntsmaster with the other member of the Huntsclan beside her. She felt extremely nervous but tried really hard to try to look calm and not to fidget. Huntsmaster was lying on his black leather sofa and seemed exhausted. By the expressions he made, it looked as though his pain was intensified with each passing breath.

"Leave us!" he barked at the Huntsclan member. When he and Huntsgirl were alone at last, Huntsmaster spoke again—except this time he had an eager tone.

"Did you get it?" Huntsgirl looked into his cold, black eyes.

"No, not yet," she said firmly.

"Why not?" he asked. Huntsgirl noted a hint of anger in his question. She made sure not to break eye contact.

"I went to the place you directed me to, but the creatures were no where to be seen," she lied. He watched her suspiciously; she stared right back without blinking once. He must have been satisfied with whatever he was trying to search for, because he looked away and appeared pensive. Relief swept over Huntsgirl as she waited patiently for instructions.

"We must find a way to locate that unicorn! I'm running out of time, Huntsgirl," he said edgily.

"I know, Huntsmaster... and I think I know of a way to find out how to get it," she replied, and, even though it was undetectable beneath her mask, an evil grin spread across her face.

XXXXX

Jake looked at what the unicorn now was and groaned inwardly. Before him stood a Caucasian boy with short golden-blonde hair, honey brown eyes, and he was a head and a half taller than Jake. As soon as he had transformed, one of the fairies snapped his fingers to clothe him. The boy was also about the same age. Jake grew resentful, because the boy looked exactly like a catalogue model. He was absolutely—

"Perfect!" Grandpa explained. "He can go to school with you, Jake, so you can keep a close watch on him. Good work, Fu." Fu looked pleased.

"Awe man!" Jake whined. Grandpa gave him a warning stare. Jake crossed his arms. "Fine," he said with disappointment. "What are we going to call him? We can't very well be shouting 'Hey unicorn! Over here' now can we?"

"You can call me Nic. It's what the other creatures called me for short," said the boy. Then, looking confused, he asked, "Uh…what is school?"

"Oh, you know, it's just a place where psychotic teachers try to tell you that dragon scales smell like lavender and that their claws glow in the dark," Jake said casually. Nic looked even more confused and Jake grinned at the awkward expression on his face.

"Why on earth would someone go there to learn something like that?"

"Exactly," Jake said firmly glancing over at Grandpa, who did not seem very pleased with his grandson's answers. Jake sighed. "Okay, so it's only one psychotic teacher—I mean, 'Professor'," he added mockingly, "who teaches that sort of thing… School is actually where one goes to be educated so he or she will have better opportunities later in life," Jake droned as if he were reading it off of a brochure, but Grandpa seemed satisfied.

"And I _have_ to go there?" Nic asked hesitantly.

"Hey, if I have to, you have to, know what I'm sayin'?" Jake said.

"Uh… I guess," replied Nic.

"One question though, G. How am I supposed to be able to keep watch over him all day?" Jake asked his grandpa. "We most likely won't have all of the same classes."

"Why, that is quite simple, young one. He is your cousin who is visiting you. The school will let visitors follow their relatives around," Grandpa responded as if it was evident.

"Right… that'll go down without problems," Jake said sarcastically. "I think you're forgetting something, Gramps."

"Oh? And what is that?" he asked as he wore an all knowing smile.

"He's _white,_ and I'm _Chinese_," Jake said matter-of-factly.

"You are _part_ Chinese. Nic will obviously be your cousin on your dad's side. You must think with more than just your eyes, young one," Grandpa said.

"Say _what_?" Jake asked.

"I think he means that you should try to think things through entirely before saying what your eyes may see instead," Nic said. Jake noted a touch of arrogance in his voice. Grandpa nodded and gave him a smile.

Jake was not in a good mood when he climbed back up to the roof to tell Spud and Trixie what had transpired. When he got there though, he was staring at an empty rooftop. _Figures_, he thought. He glanced at his watch. It was ten after eight. _It is pretty late, I guess… for a school night. Oh, well. I'll just see them at school tomorrow_.

Jake made his way back downstairs to discover all of the magical creatures in the back room. Grandpa and Fu Dog however, were in the front talking to Nic.

_Why did he have to turn into a human_, Jake thought grumpily to himself. Fu was the first to see Jake enter.

"Hey, kid. What's the matter with you?" Fu asked. Jake answered him by shrugging his shoulders. Grandpa and Nic halted their brief discussion at the sound of the closing door signaling Jake's return. They glanced in his direction. Nic had a nervous look about him. His eyes were shifty and he kept fidgeting. Jake leaned up against the counter with a sour expression on his face and put his hands in his jacket pockets.

"It is getting late," Grandpa said finally as he sensed the sudden tension in the room. "You two should start heading home."

"Say _what_? Now he's coming _home_ with me?" Jake asked, astonished.

"Yes," replied Grandpa calmly. "He will be staying with you the entire time that he is a human."

"Why can't he just stay here with the rest of the creatures, and I'll get him in the morning before school?" Jake asked pleadingly.

"Because he is your responsibility. No harm must come to him while he is under your watch, young one, and he must stay under your watch at all times," Grandpa said firmly.

"I can take care of myself, you know," Nic included. His voice sounded quite irritated.

"There, you see? He's fine on his own. Besides, what about my parents?" Jake asked.

"This is not a negotiation! He _will_ be going home with you," Grandpa exclaimed decisively. Then, his tone softened as he added, "And do not worry about your parents. I have already spoken with your mother on the matter. She has agreed to let Nic stay." A thought suddenly occurred to Jake.

"Hey, G, who's going to be watching the shop while you are guarding the phoenix?"

"No one," Grandpa answered simply.

"You mean you're going to close it up?" Jake asked, astounded.

"Yes, and why not? You do not think that it would be very wise to have someone else watch the store with all of these magical creatures occupying it at the moment, do you?" asked Grandpa.

"He has a point, kid," said Fu. "But while you guys are off protecting the phoenix and the uni—uh, I mean Nic, what am _I_ going to do?"

"Why, Fu Dog…don't you know?" asked Grandpa with a mischievous smile. The dog looked at him with huge questioning eyes and shook his head slowly. He didn't like that smile Grandpa was giving him. "I'm counting on you to watch over everyone else to make sure that they stay hidden."

"Awe man!" Fu exclaimed, imitating Jake.

* * *

Please review! 


	5. Chapter 5

Hey all! Sorry for another long wait for an update. It's been hectic around here with school and all. I really like this chapter. It was really fun to write. I think it may be my favorite so far. Anyway, hopefully it won't take me as long to update the next addition!

For my wonderful reviewers:

CelloSolo2007—Thank you so much; you're so sweet! And about your hunch, I guess you're just going to have to wait for another update to find out if you're right or not. :)

Worker72—Thanks for reviewing! I think maybe one or two of your questions that you asked previously was answered in this chapter, but your other questions will hopefully be answered soon. :)

KrazieShadowNinja—Thanks! Yeah, I can see how updating can be challenging with a schedule like yours. Band takes up a lot of your time; I would know. :) My band's uniforms were about the same, but my uniform changed every year. I was in the color guard, so I didn't really play an instrument. I've always wanted to learn how to play the snare drum though. It seems like a lot of fun. As for band shirts—I have seven; two every year until my senior year when we only received one. I'd be here for a while explaining them all to you, and I'm sure you would rather read the next chapter. I'd love to read what yours looks like though. :)

horseluver101—Thanks for reviewing! Here's the next chapter. :)

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Jake and Nic walked out of the shop with scowls on their faces. Neither of them said a word to each other, but already Nic was beginning to grow on Jake's nerves. The boy had no idea where they were going yet he insisted on leading, and he did it effortlessly too because of his much longer legs. Jake did find some satisfaction, however, watching the pretentious boy make all the wrong turns and have to retrace his steps back to Jake, because the young dragon refused to tell him otherwise. After about the fourth time of this happening, and Nic discovering a smug expression on Jake's face when he found him again, Nic finally broke the silence between them.

"Listen…uh, what was it? Jake?" Nic began rather rudely. Jake's expression hardened while Nic sneered. "I realize you don't like me, for reasons I'm sure your naivety has affected you, but _I'm_ the one in danger so do you think you could _do your job_ and make sure that I don't get hurt—or _lost_ for that matter."

"Man, whatever," Jake replied in a voice just as vicious. "You aren't hurt _yet_, and as for getting lost, if you would take your nose out of the clouds and _follow me_ since I actually _know_ where _my_ house is, maybe, just maybe, you won't get lost." The boys glared at each other for a moment until Jake finally took a step in the direction of his house.

"Besides," Jake added over his shoulder, "I knew where you were every time you wandered off, so don't give me any of that '_do your job_' crap."

Nic stood there and watched Jake walk a good distance ahead of him before he started to follow him. When he saw Jake walk up the steps to one of the similar looking houses that surrounded them, he sped up so he wouldn't be locked out. As he walked up the same steps Jake had, he heard Jake's voice through the slightly opened door.

"We're here, mom. I'm going to bed." Nic slipped inside the house to see Jake's back disappear around the right corner of the upstairs. Nic looked around the room of what seemed to be a sitting room unsure of what to do. He noticed that the larger sitting place had blankets and a rectangular white thing on it.

Suddenly a woman, presumably Jake's mom, came into the room.

"Hi!" she said warmly. "Well, come in, come in. I'm sorry we don't have a guest room or another bed to make your stay more comfortable, but I've made you a bed on the couch." She smiled and gestured towards the blankets and the sitting place.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Mrs. Long. I usually just sleep on the ground."

"Oh, right, of course. I forgot," she said, a little embarrassed at her ignorance. "So, can I get you anything?"

"Um… well, I kind of… uh, need to be… taken outside?"

"Oh! No, we use toilets, and now that you're human, you will have to use one too. Come on, I'll lead to the bathroom."

"You use a room where you bathe to… go?"

"We don't use that area of the room. The toilet is usually on the other side. It's just what the room is called," she explained as she led him to the door. "I'll be in the kitchen, and don't forget to wash your hands." Nic looked at the strange objects in the room and then gave Mrs. Long a confused and helpless stare. She pointed around the room of what everything was, told him to pull down on the handle to flush the toilet after he was finished, and then to turn on and off the water from the sink by twisting the right knob with a 'C' on it. She didn't want him to burn himself with the hot water.

"Then, just put some soap on your hands, rub them together, rinse them off, and dry them with this towel," she concluded as she closed the door leaving Nic to do his business. When he came back into the sitting room, he found a little girl around age eight or nine with her black hair in pig-tails sitting on his bed.

"Who're you?" she asked.

"Uh… Nic," he replied hesitantly.

"Nic what?" she inquired.

"I don't understand the question."

"Oh," she said as if she understood the problem. "You must be one of my brother's friends. He's not very smart either."

"Excuse me? My mentality surpasses your own on many levels. It's in my blood to know as much as I possibly can."

"But you can't understand a simple question? Yep, you sound like a genius to me," she said sarcastically then added, "Good bloodline."

"That's enough, Hailey. You should be in bed, anyway," Mrs. Long scolded. Hailey smiled innocently and made her way back upstairs to her room. Mrs. Long turned to Nic.

"If you're going to school with Jake tomorrow, I suggest you go to sleep as well."

"Yeah, okay," he said as he climbed into the many blankets and closed his eyes.

XXXXX

Huntsgirl stood with her arms crossed as she gazed around the darkened room. She had been waiting there for almost a half an hour and was growing impatient. At long last, she felt a cold shiver down her spine indicating the arrival of the company she was waiting for.

"What do you want?" asked an irritated but clever voice.

"I need you to extract information from the American Dragon," Huntsgirl said determinedly.

"Am I actually allowed to kill him yet?"

"Of course not," she spat. "That task is mine and mine alone. The American Dragon and I have been through too many battles for me to just pass him off onto another. He has showed me up more times than I would have liked, and I want my revenge on him. Besides, with me killing him once and for all I will finally become an official member of the Huntsclan… and with you weakening him, I believe that I will get my chance at last."

"Fine, whatever, what kind of info do you need?" the disembodied voice asked in an annoyed tone.

"I want to know exactly where he is hiding a unicorn that has unfortunately escaped my grasp. I need to know as soon as possible, so be quick about it. Understand?" she asked.

"Very well. Do you have any idea how to lure the dragon to me?"

"Can you not think for yourself? I gave you the idea for the last encounter you had with the dragon. Be creative for once in your pathetic life!"

"Watch it, girl. I can be a very deadly enemy," the voice said dangerously.

"Save your threats for someone who cares. Now go, and don't you _dare_ betray me," Huntsgirl replied fiercely. She felt the air around her grow warmer and knew that she was alone again. The armchair on her left looked inviting to her after standing there waiting for so long. As she slumped into it, she began thinking of her time in Central Park earlier that day.

.:_Flashback_:.

Huntsgirl gazed down at the directions she held in her hand. Huntsmaster did not have the best handwriting, which was not at all helpful when it was what she needed to depend on. She walked around the park for what felt like an hour before she finally came across the gap in the trees that was supposedly the entrance. Before heading in, she looked around suspiciously. Then, after deciding that there was no one around, she ventured forth stepping silently but swiftly. Once she was securely hidden behind a large green-blue bush with bright red and orange flowers, only then did she finally take in her surroundings.

The grove was—there was no other word for it—_enchanting_. It was positively drenched in vibrant spring colors, and the creatures that occupied it were fascinating. She had never in her whole life seen so many magical beings. However, the most surprising thing was that she viewed them not as how much they would sell for, but as how a young girl would react to a place like this. She smiled at the tiny fairy families fluttering by, the leprechauns by the various rainbows fighting over who had the most luck, and the nymphs dancing around the greenest tree she had ever seen.

Huntsgirl stood behind the bush for quite a while watching the creatures in their habitat until the sight of a bright white unicorn brought her back to her senses. It stopped just five feet away to graze upon the long green grass. She carefully raised her scepter and aimed for its brilliant pallid chest, but for some odd reason she couldn't bring herself to kill—or even injure—the innocent creature. _Maybe magical creatures weren't just created to be sold or made as trophies like Huntsmaster had told me_, she thought. Then she closed her eyes and thought about what Huntsmaster would do to her if she failed, which seemed to help clear her mind of the revolting thoughts that magical beings had another purpose. Determined, she opened her eyes—but what she found made her gasp in horror. Every one of the creatures vanished!

"Oh no!" she whined miserably.

.:_End Flashback_:.

Huntsgirl arose from the chair with sleep in her eyes. It was getting late and she had school tomorrow. She'll have to worry about the unicorn later because right now she had to finish a stupid essay that that imbecile "Professor" Rotwood assigned. It wasn't like her to put her homework off until the last minute, but she did have a very eventful weekend.

A couple wadded up papers and several hours later, she finally put down her pencil and headed for bed. As she changed out of her Huntsgirl uniform into her pajamas, she placed the uniform on her dresser next to her school clothes for tomorrow. As she looked from one outfit to the other she couldn't help but think: _What I would give to be normal_. Rose glanced down at her dragon birthmark that snaked around her right wrist and sighed heavily.

* * *

So, what did you think? Review, review, review! 

Oh! I almost forgot. I have a question for you guys. Is Huntsmaster really Rose's uncle, or is that just a cover-up? Because the episode that I saw when she actually identifies Huntsmaster as her uncle, she was awefully shifty in the way she said it. Just a thought. :)


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone! This chapter is out a lot earlier than I thought it would be. By the way, I don't think I've ever declared this before, but this fanfic takes place after the Ski Trip, but before the Hunted. I, unfortunately, haven't seen that episode yet. Plus, I thought of this before it was aired. Well, aired in the USA anyway. Enjoy Chapter 6!

In response to my reviewers:

Worker72 – I've never actually seen an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but overall your review had a very interesting perspective. Thanks for reviewing. :)

Fletty – Thank you so much! I greatly enjoyed reading your review and you're really sweet, but I just turned twenty about a month and a half ago so don't be too impressed with my writing. I still have far to go with me majoring in English and all. :)

CelloSolo2007 – I was thinking along the same lines. Well, I'm deciding (in my story at least) that they are not actually related, and that it _is_ just a cover-up. :) Oh, and by the way, I owe you a muffin. ;D

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"Is he up yet?" squeaked a tiny voice.

"O' course he's not, dummy. Does he _look_ like he's up?" an annoyed voice asked.

"Don't call her names, Laughn! It's not nice."

"I can if I want to, Lydia. You're not the boss of me," said Laughn.

"Rise and shine, leetle doog!" a girl's heavily accented voice rang out in a singsong way.

"Little? Look at the size of him, Soleil. He's bigger than my dad," said a boy's voice.

"Well, _that's_ not saying much," retorted Laughn.

"Watch it, Laughn! Or did you forget that my dad's a King?" said the boy.

"He ain't _my_ King," Laughn shot back.

"Look! He's waking up!" the tiny voice squeaked excitedly.

Fu Dog reluctantly opened his eyes to find five pairs of huge curious eyes staring back at him.

"What in the—?" Fu asked sleepily. "What's going on?"

"Did you know that you snore?" asked a small elfin boy with bright green eyes and long white-blonde hair with a crown made out of leaves upon his head. He wore a billowy, white long-sleeved shirt and midnight blue pants. Caught off guard by the strange question, and, not to mention, the situation he was in, Fu only shook his head.

"Well, you do," he replied matter-of-factly.

"Loudly, too," an irritable looking dwarf added. He had sandy blond hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a black shirt, brown pants, and a small red baseball cap. He looked just like a normal human boy—only miniaturized. Dwarves only grew to be about three feet.

"Jeez, Laughn. Can't you be nice to anyone?" asked an elfin girl, who looked incredulously like the elfin boy—except that she had on a long light pink dress and a flowered crown.

"He's a _dog_, Lydia," Laughn replied rudely.

"I'm also over 600 years old and probably know your parents, so I would show a little more respect for this _dog_ if I were you," Fu retorted edgily. Laughn tightened his arms around him and pouted for being told off.

"I sink you zould make 'im tell you zat 'e iz zorry!" cried a little girl with blue-green eyes and brunette hair that went down to the small of her back. She wore a pale green sundress that fit loosely around her slender figure with a decorative thick brown belt around her middle. Fu guessed that she was a nymph, because she had a natural glow about her, and she was slightly taller than the rest of them.

"How old are you guys?" Fu asked curiously. "And what are your names?"

"I'm Devlin," said the elfin boy. "And this is my twin sister, Lydia. We're six."

"But _I'm_ the older twin," added Lydia.

"By two minutes!"

"I'm _still_ older!"

"_My_ name iz Soleil," interrupted the nymph in her singsong voice. "Eet means 'sunshine' een French. I am six too!"

"I'm Kara!" a tiny fairy squeaked excitedly from above Fu's left ear. She had big sky blue eyes, shoulder-length black hair, and a warm smile. She wore a long white dress that dangled past her bare feet, and her pale rainbow wings glittered as she fluttered about. "I'm only five."

Fu looked at the dwarf questioningly. He was still sulking.

"Do you not have a name or age?" Fu teased.

"The name's Laughn, and I'm seven, okay?" he replied bitterly. Fu opened his mouth, no doubt to tell Laughn that his attitude was unwanted, but he was interrupted.

"What's _your_ name?" asked Kara.

"What kind of a dog are you?" Devlin asked without giving Fu enough time to answer Kara's question.

"I'm a—" Fu began, but was cut short yet again.

"Why can you talk? Dogs can't talk," asked Lydia right after Devlin.

"Well, I—"

"Why do you have so many wrinkles?" asked Kara.

"'Ow long 'ave you known ze Chinese Dragon?" Soleil asked.

"Are you a pet to Mr. Dragon?" asked Kara.

"Why are ya just sitting there with your mouth open? Aren'tch ya gonna answer them?" Laughn asked rudely.

"Quit being mean, Laughn! He didn't do anything to you," Lydia said in Fu's defense.

"Stop tellin' me what to do, Lydia!" shouted Laughn. Fu buried his head in his paws.

"See! Now you've upset him!" Lydia yelled at Laughn.

_This is going to be a _very_ long day_, Fu thought miserably.

XXXXX

Jake entered Millard Middle School with Nic closely in toe. Usually Jake would have gone straight to his locker where he met Trixie and Spud, but this morning his mother told him to go to the office first. He had to sign Nic in as a visitor so the boy could be his shadow for two whole miserable days. As they passed through the halls, Jake noticed many heads turn in their direction; most of them were girls'. He clenched his teeth and walked faster until they finally met Mrs. Evans, the school secretary, who was seated behind a rather cluttered desk. Middle-aged and short tempered, she was _not_ the kind of person that you would want to upset. They waited patiently as she wrote down the names for appointments with the principal, which were most likely going to be unhappy engagements.

"State your name and business," she said suddenly without even looking up at them.

"Um…I'm Jake Long, and I'm here to sign in my cousin." Jake replied. She glanced up.

"Oh, yes. Your mother called us earlier this morning." She wheeled her chair to the right side of her office and pulled a clipboard from the wall. "Fill this out and make sure he keeps his name tag on at all times while he is on school property."

"Okay, thanks," Jake replied as he took the clipboard from her. He sat on a bench nearby, and reached for the chewed-up pencil that was attached to the board by a string. Disgusted by the thought of touching anything that was previously inside someone's mouth, he grabbed one of the pens inside his backpack instead. The first question was simple enough, but it made Jake pause.

**Please Print Visitor's Full Name Here**:

"Uh, oh," he whispered. Nic was keeping his distance from Jake, but those two little words brought him to Jake's side.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You wouldn't happen to have a last name, would you?" Jake asked in a low voice.

"A last name?" repeated Nic with a vacant expression. Jake sighed.

"Yeah, I didn't think so. I guess we'll just have to make one up."

"Another name?" he asked. Jake nodded. "Why?"

"That's just how it is," Jake replied testily.

"Unicorns barely even have one name, let alone two. You humans are so complicated sometimes," Nic complained.

"Keep your voice down! Do you _want _to be captured?" snapped Jake.

"Relax, no one heard me."

"You can't be too sure." They sat in silence for a couple more minutes searching their minds for a name.

"There is an easier solution to this problem, you know," Nic said.

"Really, do tell," Jake replied without any enthusiasm.

"I'm supposed to be related to you, right?" Jake nodded. "So, why can't I just use your other name?"

"Say what? I don't think so. You're not cool enough to have the Mackdaddy's last name. Pick a different one," Jake ordered. Nic rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. You do it then," he spat as he leaned against the opposite wall. Jake thought for a moment, and then finally wrote something down. He finished the form and gave it to Mrs. Evans, who gave him a note in return. As he began to walk away, he tossed the name tag at Nic from over his shoulder. Nic caught it and looked down.

**Nic White**

"Oh yeah, that's original," he muttered.

The bell rang signaling the beginning of school. Jake rushed to his locker to get his books for his next class. He continued down the halls, and then paused at a door.

"Try not to embarrass me," Jake said as he made his way into his Mythological class. He barely had one foot in the door when—

"Jake Long! You are late!" shouted his teacher, Professor Rotwood.

"Yeah, I know. I have a note from Mrs. Evans explaining why," he said. Rotwood snatched the note from Jake's outstretched hand.

"Who are you and why are you here, tall boy behind Mr. Long?" he asked Nic. This time it was Jake who rolled his eyes.

"Yo, Mr. Rotwood," Jake began.

"Professor!" Rotwood corrected.

"Right, _professor_, you would know why he was here if you read the note," Jake said. Rotwood narrowed his eyes at Jake, and then focused his attention to the paper in his hand.

"Fine," he said after he finished reading. "Sit down, Mr. Long. And you," he said, pointing to Nic, "sit there." Jake froze halfway to his desk. Rotwood seated Nic right next to Rose. Jake watched as their eyes interlocked and they smiled at each other. Jake clenched his teeth and curled his hands into fists at his sides.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Long?" Rotwood asked startling Jake out of his sudden rage. It was only then that he realized that he was still standing. His cheeks turned a pale pink as everyone watched him slide into his desk. As soon as Rotwood began his lesson, he wrote a brief note to Spud and Trixie explaining everything that went on last night. Then, for the whole rest of the lesson he couldn't take his eyes off Nic and Rose, who were silently flirting with each other the entire time.

* * *

Hm... interesting. I wonder what's going to happen with Nic and Rose. Oh, wait. No I don't, because I know! .:smiles mischievously:. And I can guarantee you guys won't like it, either.

Oh, and poor Fu. I used to babysit at a fitness center and would literally be bombarded with questions. The little kids would barely let me open my mouth let alone answer them. It was really frustrating at times. Anyway...

REVIEW! um... please :D


	7. Chapter 7

Hey all, sorry I haven't been getting these out as fast as I would like to. My professors are making it more and more difficult to write. I only have maybe two or three more chapters to go though, so hopefully I'll get them out before Christmas. No guarantees though. :) They will be pretty long as well because they're jam-packed with action and maybe a cliffhanger here and there. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

**Thanks a million** to:

_Fletty_

_Worker72_

_CelloSolo2007_

_coolgirlc

* * *

_

**Chapter 7**

"Don't know what you trippin' for, Jakey," Trixie said after the bell rang for the class to end. "You barely even speak to Rose anymore ever since you found out who she really is."

"Yo, what are you talking about, Trix?" Jake asked, distracted. His attention was still placed on Nic and Rose, who were talking to each other not too far away.

"Oh puh-lease, Homeboy. You are obviously in denial. I can see your envy from a mile away, and let me tell you, green is _not_ your best color," she said.

"I'm not jealous!" he said defensively as he stormed off in the opposite direction. Trixie put her hands on her hips.

"Mm-hmm, o' course you ain't." She turned to Spud, who was examining a piece of paper pinned to the bulletin board. "We've got a problem, Spud."

"Yeah, tell me about it," he said. "We're having 'Meatloaf Surprise' for lunch today." Trixie rolled her eyes.

"_Boy_, come on," she said in an irritated tone as she pulled him away from the board. As they passed Nic and Rose, Trixie heard something she definitely was not pleased about, because her eyes grew wide and her pace quickened in pursuit of Jake. When they met up with him in their next class, which was English, Trixie and Spud sat in the empty seats that were situated on either side of Jake. He pretended not to notice. Trixie looked around the classroom for Nic and found him seated in the back. Thankful that he was too far away from them to overhear what she was about to say, she turned towards Jake.

"Look, Jakey, I'm sorry," He nodded his head in recognition. She smiled weakly, and then took a deep breath to tell him the bad news. "Um… Jake? Listen, I just overheard Nic tell Rose that he'd like to go out with her sometime tomorrow." She noticed the tip of his pencil break off from him writing so hard. "But you know, you _are_ going to have to tell him who she really is and soon. That may draw him away from her," she suggested helpfully. He thought about that for a moment and eventually began to feel a little better.

"Yeah, okay. Maybe it will," he agreed. "Thanks, Trix." He then put Nic and Rose out of his mind for the time being so he could focus more on his studies.

The rest of the day went as normal as any, and when three o'clock rolled around, they were all glad school was finally over. Nic and Jake left Trixie and Spud at the school as they began to walk to Grandpa's shop to see how Fu Dog was getting along.

Jake was the first one to walk through the back door (the front door was still locked since the shop was closed), and wore a slightly astonished expression at the scene before him.

Fu was wearing a green tinted see-through visor and held 5 playing cards in his paws. He was seated at a table with five young magical beings who had inhabited the grove, and they each were holding the same number of cards in their hands as Fu. There was also a small pile of candy in the middle of the table. None of them even noticed the boys come through the door.

"Uh, Fu? What's going on?" Jake asked.

Fu looked up from the table.

"Oh hey, kid," the Chinese Shar-Pei answered, and then turned his attention back to the table. "Alright, what do you guys got?" Fu asked.

"Nothing," sighed a small boy elf sitting across from Fu.

"I have a 10, a 4, a Q, a 7, an 8 and they all have pretty red hearts," squeaked a little fairy to Fu's right.

"That means you have a flush. Good job, Kara," said Fu. Kara gave him a big sparkling smile.

"I 'ave a fool 'ouse," said the young nymph to Fu's left as she set down her cards on the table.

"It's '_full_ house', Soleil," corrected a gnome sitting on the right side of Kara.

"Okay, meester 'Know-eet-all'. What do _you_ 'ave?" Soleil asked him haughtily.

"A straight flush," he replied arrogantly. There were groans around the table and Soleil wrinkled her nose as she stuck out her tongue at him. "Well it looks like I won," he said as he reached for the candy.

"Not so fast, Laughn," said a small girl elf sitting to the left of Soleil. "In my own honor, Royal Flush; read 'em and weep!" she said with a huge smile. Laughn pushed his cards away and slouched in his chair with his arms crossed.

"_Fantastique_!" exclaimed Soleil.

"Yeah, way to be, Lydia!" Kara squeaked excitedly.

"Thank you, thank you," Lydia said as she reached for the candy and split it up between everyone.

"Fu! Are you teaching them Poker?" Jake asked incredulously.

"Uhhh……maybe?" Fu replied. Jake shook his head and looked around the room. Nic realized what Jake was searching for and voiced his question.

"Where's everyone else?" he asked.

"They're out trying to locate a safe place to reside in that's like the grove but is still in the city, and let me tell you, it ain't going so hot," said Fu.

"Ah, so you got stuck with babysitting, huh Fu?" said Jake.

"Yeah, but it wasn't all bad. I mean sure they fought a lot at first, but as soon as we started playing Poke—uh, this innocent card game, they didn't fight as much and actually were pretty fun to hang out with," he said. Then his voice became no more than a whisper as he added, "By the way, kid, perhaps you shouldn't mention this to your gramps. I'm not really allowed to play anymore since I got into trouble back in the 1970s. Ah goo-goo."

Jake left them to their game as he followed Nic out into the front of the store.

"Uh, Nic?" Jake began hesitantly as the door closed behind him.

"What?" he replied with a hint of annoyance. Jake clenched his teeth, but continued anyway.

"The girl you were hanging out with today, Rose?" he paused.

"Yeah? What about her? She's pretty cute—for a human," Nic said. Jake drew a hefty breath to calm his rising irritation.

"You should probably know that she is part of the Huntsclan, and the prime suspect for your attempted murder," Jake said. He was expecting disappointment, horror, sadness, anything but the arrogant smile he was now receiving.

"Yeah right, you just don't want me to go out with 'your girl'. Am I right? And don't try to deny it either; I've seen the way you look at her," he replied. Jake glared at him.

"If you don't want to believe me, then fine, but stay away from her or you will die," Jake said threateningly.

"I _am_ going to go to her place tomorrow whether you like it or not. If she is who you _say_ she is, then who cares, because I can take care of myself!" he shouted.

Jake couldn't believe the arrogance of this inept creature! Who did Nic think he was anyway? He grew so angry that he didn't care what happened to the stupid unicorn anymore. He stormed out of the shop and slammed the door. Jake was deep in thought as he walked further away from Grandpa's shop and more into the city.

He was thinking about Rose and her 'little' secret again. He still couldn't believe he had been so naive. All those times she had to disappear almost the same time he did whenever there was something magical going on, her sudden injuries in the same places he had inflicted upon Huntsgirl, her dragon birthmark… Jake sighed heavily. He wasn't exactly paying attention to where he was going, and he found himself facing a brick wall down an alley deep in the heart of the city. However, this sort of situation didn't bother Jake seeing as how it was still daylight and that he _was_ the American Dragon. He turned around to back-track his steps.

Suddenly, he felt a cold shiver run up his spine. The alley became extremely dark to where Jake couldn't even see his hand which he held inches from his face.

"Eyes of the dragon," he whispered. His black eyes shone a fiery red as he looked around the vacant alley. An uneasy feeling burst in the pit of his stomach. He felt a presence behind him and quickly spun around, only to see nothing at all.

"Ssssurprisssse, boy," said a voice Jake recognized from yesterday. "Aren't you ssssuppossssed to be guarding ssssomething?" Evil, maniacal laughter erupted from all angles of the alley surrounding Jake in its creepy essence. Jake tried to shrug off the apprehensive feeling that was spreading from his stomach to the rest of his body. He had to try and play it cool. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"You back again, yo? What do you want _this_ time?" Jake asked as his eyes searched for the creature. Finally, they settled on two glowing red eyes blocking the one way out of the alley—without flying, of course.

"Why, I jusssst wanted to get to _know_ you a little better, that'ssss all," it hissed greasily. "I felt like we barely sssspoke at our lasssst meeting. Though, I _am_ rather _breath-taking_, don't you think?" Once more the alley was filled with its laughter. Jake balled his hands into fists and clenched his jaw. He went through a mental battle with himself as he tried to decide what he should do. Part of him wanted to fight the creature even though he didn't do so well in their last encounter, but the other part of him was a little more logical as it reminded him that he didn't have the knowledge to defeat this creature yet. Finally, he decided to make a break for it, and he quickly transformed into his dragon façade.

"Well, sorry I won't be able to stay and chat, but I have more _important_ things to do," he replied as he began to fly up and out of the alley. He looked behind him to notice that he wasn't being followed and turned around just in time to see the creature just five feet in front of him. Jake halted in mid-air.

"What the—?"

"Ah, ah, ah," it said. "You _will_ tell me what I need to know." And with that Jake found himself in the clutches of the creature once again.

XXXXX

Huntsgirl was in the middle of training when her cell phone rang. She rushed to pick it up as she was expecting a very important phone call.

"Huntsgirl," she answered.

"I have the info you wanted. Meet me in the ssssame area assss before," said the voice on the other line.

Huntsgirl found herself back in the darkened room—only this time she didn't have to wait near as long. The minute she stepped through the door, she felt the familiar shiver down her back.

"Well?" she asked. "What do you have for me?"

"Do you know that when your breathing issss limited that memoriessss flash through your mind?"

"Yeah, so? What does this have to do with what I asked you?" she asked impatiently.

"I feed upon thosssse memoriessss; or rather the emotions that accompany such recollectionssss of great value, utter ssssorrow, or even immensssse anger of the victim," he hissed in a noticeably more irritated tone.

"Hmm…wow. That's _fascinating_," she replied sarcastically. "What's your point? I'm kind of in a hurry."

The creature hissed dangerously. "My _point_ issss that I didn't have to dig very deeply to find that sssspecific information you assssked for. You will pose a great threat to yoursssself and your clan if you do anything to harm that unicorn."

"Spare me the lecture. Do you have my information or not?" she asked edgily. He glared at her with intense hatred, but relayed the information obediently.

"Excellent," she replied mischievously. "Most excellent."

* * *

Review! 


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you to all who reviewed and especially to those whom I did not get to reply to!

This chapter is a great deal smaller than the rest, but the next chapter is going to be huge and completely packed with action and suspense as it _is_ growing near for my story to end. .:sniffs:. Well anyway, on with the chapter!

A/N: I changed the title of the Spell in this chapter and in Chapter 3 from when it is first mentioned. It fits in with my story a _whole lot_ better. :)

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Jake awoke to find himself on the roof of one of the tall office buildings of New York at night. It took him a while to remember how he got there and why his breathing was labored. As the thoughts rushed back to him, his eyes widened in fear at what had happened.

.:_Flashback_:.

The creature took him by surprise and began squeezing every breath out of him as before. The American Dragon struggled violently against his captor but soon found out that he couldn't do anything to stop the constant pressure upon his chest. After several minutes, the strength in him diminished. His body grew limp in the creature's grasp. Darkness clouded his vision and he felt himself on the verge of fainting. Suddenly, a newfound pain seeped into his head. It was a very unfamiliar feeling—like someone, or some_thing_, was examining his mind. Memories of his life flashed through his head as he felt the creature's hold on him tightening. He saw certain recollections of his earlier childhood flash by quickly, but when he came upon his recent memories, they became much more prolonged. The last memory he remembered seeing before he felt himself falling to the ground was Nic turning into a human. He collided with the roof and knew no more.

.:_End Flashback_:.

Jake was still uncertain of what the creature really did or why it had spared his life yet again, but he _did_ know that he had to get back to his grandpa's shop, and to Nic, as soon as possible. For some odd reason, he felt positive that Nic was definitely in great danger. He groaned as he got up with difficulty. His muscles burned with even the slightest motion and he noticed that he was no longer in his dragon form. He mustered what little strength he had, called upon his dragon wings (he was too weak to be in his full alter ego), and flew to Grandpa's shop, camouflaged by the black night sky.

XXXXX

Huntsgirl stood in the darkened room long after the creature left. She was thinking about what it had told her. She made the creature think that she was very pleased with the information, but in reality it had shaken her a bit. The unicorn was in the disguise of Nic White, a boy posing as Jake Long's cousin at her school. She was rather taken with Nic as soon as he walked through the door of her Mythology class. She even blessed Rotwood for seating him next to her.

"The boy's an absolute hottie," she thought aloud, "and he seems to like me as well. Then again… he _is_ only a boy in disguise. His true form is that rotten unicorn which escaped. If I could capture him and bring him to Huntsmaster, then I would be praised beyond any one of the Huntsclan." Her eyes gleamed with ecstasy and she began to make her way to Huntsmaster's chamber.

Huntsmaster was on the couch in a fitful slumber when Huntsgirl walked into the room. She took a seat in an armchair next to the bookcase and waited for him to wake up. She thought about waking him in her excitement in telling him the good news but decided against it as she thought about the last time she did. He was so angry that he threw a dagger at her, which, fortunately, missed her—but only by a couple of centimeters. After that incident, she felt that it would be best to wait. However, several minutes later she grew bored and decided to choose a book to read from his minuscule collection.

There were only about four books on the shelf with almost an inch of dust on all but one. The one book was also a bit larger than the other three and had an old but handsome leather cover with silver lettering which spelled: The Book of Spells, Potions, and Enchantments, Author Unknown. It caught her eye immediately and she extracted it from the shelf with eager hands. She glanced over at Huntsmaster to make sure he was still asleep as she didn't think he would be too happy if he caught her with the book. Fortunately for her, he was still sleeping, so she opened it excitedly. There were all sorts of fascinating spells inside, but only one particular spell consumed her interest. She gazed over the page with gleaming eyes and read:

The Spell of Aspiration

Who so ever completes the entirety of this spell may have whatever he so desires.

Directions:

First, write the spell on a piece of parchment. Next, say the spell while concentrating on the thing of which one desires. Then, light the parchment on fire. Last, drop the parchment into the finished potion as the parchment burns.

Ingredients for Potion:

2 Fairy Wings

2 oz. Giant Blood

A Pinch of Pixie Dust

Hair of an Arctic Wolf

Tear of a Whistling Swan

1 Tail Feather of a Phoenix

(Be sure to use a pewter caldron for best results)

The Spell—

Huntsgirl quickly snapped the book closed as she heard Huntsmaster groan in pain signaling that he would soon be awake. He rolled over to see her facing the bookcase.

"What are you doing?" he asked her drowsily but with a little edge in his voice. Her heart raced, but luckily he saw her a second _after_ she put the book back in its place.

"Nothing," she replied, thanking the heavens that her voice was much calmer than she felt.

"Then, what do you want?" he asked in an irritated manner. She silently heaved a sigh of relief in knowing that he didn't catch her and suddenly gained back her confidence.

"I just thought you would like to know that I have information on the whereabouts of the unicorn, Master," she said.

"If you know where it is, then why am I still like this?" he growled.

"You will be well by tomorrow afternoon if all goes to plan," she reassured him and let herself out of the room.

* * *

(Announcer's voice) Oh no! Will Huntsgirl actually follow through with her plan? Will Huntsmaster be well again? And will Jake ever find out how to defeat the mysterious Shadow Creature? Tune-in next time for another suspenseful chapter of Mystical Horns and Powerful Feathers!

Sorry, I just had to put that in here. Unfortunately, next chapter won't be out as soon as I hoped. I took a week off from school for vacation and it's going to be ghastly trying to catch up. Plus, the time for finals is here yet again, so I most likely won't be updating until after the 14th of December; my deepest apologies.

Anyway, please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Hello all! Worker 72 asked me a very good question, so I thought that to clear things up that I would answer the question before this chapter. When Huntsgirl ordered the Shadow Creature to bring her information on the whereabouts of the unicorn, that specific knowledge was all it told her. She does _not_ know about Jake being the American Dragon. I tried to make this fanfiction be its own episode placed between _The Ski Trip_ and _The Hunted_, so she won't find out that he is the AmDrag in my story. And by the way, I changed the conversation between Huntsgirl and the Shadow Creature (located at the end of Chapter 7). I didn't change it too much, but I hope that it's understandable now. On to Chapter 9! Yea!

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Fu Dog sat up in the chair he was sitting in. He thought he heard something pound against the back wall. He looked around the room at the sleeping faces of the magical creatures. No one seemed as though he or she heard anything, but Fu felt that something was wrong. He rose from his seat and silently made his way to the closet to grab a baseball bat. Then, he tiptoed to the back door and cautiously opened it. He peeked his head out and looked around. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, yet he still had a bad feeling in his stomach. Fu was about to close the door when a garbage can lid clattered to the ground making an awful noise on his left. He carefully began to walk over in the direction of the disturbance. The shadows behind the shop seemed intensified by Fu's rapidly growing fear of what he would find behind the garbage can. His eyes nervously darted back and forth and his heartbeat increased at a measurable rate. He held the bat in both paws and raised it above his head while he inched closer.

Fu stood just before the garbage can for several minutes unable to go through with his decision to take care of the situation until finally, courage surged through his body and he flung himself forward. He felt the bat come in contact with the creature and heard it groan in pain. Fu caught a glimpse of the outline of what the creature looked like as it was dark and couldn't make out much more than that. It resembled some sort of weird black blob with strange membrane-covered limbs that were attached to its back. It looked up at the dog with glowing red eyes. Fu raised the bat again.

"Please Fu…" it said in a weak and pleading tone. Fu immediately stopped; not only because the creature knew his name, but also for the fact that the voice seemed extremely familiar to him.

"Stay there," Fu ordered as he ran inside the shop for a flashlight. It took him a little while to actually find one, but as soon as he did he made his way back out to the alley. As the light shone on the creature, Fu kicked himself. There, hunched against the wall, was—

"Jake! What on earth? What happened?" Fu asked, concerned. He helped Jake up from the ground and half-carried half-walked him into the shop.

"I was attacked," Jake began.

"Attacked?" Fu repeated loudly in an alarmed voice. A couple of the creatures stirred. He motioned for Jake to follow him to the front of the shop so as not to disturb them.

"What do you mean 'attacked'? Who attacked you?" Fu asked as soon as they were out of earshot of the slumbering guests. Jake told him of his encounter with the Shadow Creature and about the growing suspicion in his stomach that Nic was in trouble.

"So when I woke up, I called upon my dragon wings to get here as fast as possible, and I also called upon my dragon eyes so I could see in the dark," Jake continued. "I was already weak because of the creature, and I'm not exactly sure what happened, but all of the sudden I felt myself hit the wall and I blacked out. The next thing I remember was waking up to you hitting me with a baseball bat." Fu looked at him sheepishly.

"Yeah…sorry about that, Kid. I thought you were some weird type of evil creature. Where did I hit you, anyway?" Jake showed him the large bruise that was developing on his left leg. Fu grimaced.

"So, where is Nic?" Jake asked

"He's at your house," said Fu. "And come to think of it, that's where you should be too. Do you know what time it is?" Jake shook his head. "It's midnight, Jake. Your mom is going to be furious."

"Awe man!" groaned Jake. He thought of what his mother would do to him if he was caught and he shuddered. "Can't I stay here? You can tell her that we were doing something that will help us with the phoenix or something. Please Fu?" Fu shook his head. Jake mustered a pathetic looking face and said downheartedly, "Well, I guess I should head out now then. It'll take me a while with my _sore leg_ and all." He glanced over at his guardian. The dog had on a guilty appearance. _Bingo_, thought Jake.

"Oh alright, but this is the last time I'm covering for you, Kid," Fu said. Jake grabbed a spare blanket from the closet and positioned himself on the floor next to his guardian and was asleep in minutes.

Jake awoke the next morning to find himself alone in the back room. He yawned and rubbed his eyes as he lazily made his way to the front of the shop. There, he saw Fu with the same five little magical creatures he was with the day before. They were sitting around the table again and Fu was discussing the rules of Backgammon. Jake shook his head while a smirk played across his lips. He checked his watch for the time and his heart jumped in his throat. It was a half past 11:00!

"Fu! Why didn't you wake me up?" Jake asked, exasperated.

"Hey I tried, but you were dead to the world. The Twins"—he gestured to Lydia and Devlin—"even jumped up and down on ya, and you _still_ wouldn't budge!" Fu replied. Then, he turned back to the kids and continued to explain the game.

"Awe man! I'm gonna be in _so_ much trouble," Jake said as he sprinted out of the door and raced to school.

XXXXX

Rose glanced over at Nic and smiled. He had been following her to all her classes instead of Jake since Jake didn't show up at his first class. Rose didn't mind, of course, because 1) Nic was really the unicorn so she could keep an eye on him at all times, and 2) she had to admit that he was _really_ cute. However, seeing as she _was_ spending a lot more time with him, she began to realize that it was getting harder for her to think about destroying him. She was going through a major mental battle about the whole situation. _Maybe I should just let him go_, she thought. _He's so smart and charming and funny and sweet. Those are hard qualities to find in a guy that is so _completely_ hot._ She glanced over at him again. This time though, he caught her gaze and flashed her a dazzling smile. She blushed and turned her head back to her teacher.

Then, after a moment of daydreaming she thought, _Wait a second! What am I saying? He's nothing but that stupid unicorn from the grove and that's all he'll ever be. Besides, Huntsmaster is dying, and I can't let that happen when I can stop it so easily. He's like family and the only person who has ever really cared for me. I have to save him! _When the bell rang signaling the beginning of their lunch period, Rose had finally made up her mind. She walked out of the classroom with Nic following closely behind.

"Hey, Rose! Listen, why don't we skip the rest of these boring classes and head to your place to hang out?" Nic suggested smoothly. She looked intently into his sparkling honey brown eyes. Normally she would have said 'no' to skipping school, but there was something about him that made her agree without thinking.

"Sure. Let's go."

XXXXX

Jake sprinted through the door of Millard Middle School. He rushed to the class he would have been in before lunch, but he was too late. He was only half way there when the bell rang for lunch to begin. The doors of the classrooms slammed open as kids gladly made their way out. He looked around frantically for any sign of Nic or Rose.

"Yo, Jakey! Over here!" yelled a familiar voice from behind him. He turned to see Trixie being swallowed up by the horde of students. Jake eventually made his way over to her, but it took a while.

"'Bout time. So, I was tellin' Spud here that we should probly go to your gramp's shop and see if you was there, cos I already called your house and didn't get an answer," she said.

"Yeah, and then I told her that I didn't see why we had to go so far when you were just down the hall," Spud added. Trixie rolled her eyes.

"_Anyway_, we were gonna tell you that your boy Nic just left school with Rose," she continued.

"Awe man! I _told_ him to stay away from her! His time as a human is almost up!" Jake groaned.

XXXXX

Nic and Rose walked hand-in-hand as she led him to her uncle's apartment. She pulled out her key from her bag, unlocked the door and slipped through. He followed her until she came to a stop outside a comfortable looking living room. They sat down on a yellowish colored couch. The air felt tense as they sat there unsure of what to do or talk about. Finally, Rose spoke.

"Do you want anything to drink?" she asked.

"Oh uh, sure. What do you have?"

"Umm… I don't know. Let me go check," she said as she left the room for the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator door, looked around, grabbed a couple of sodas, and made her way back to the living room.

"I found some sodas," she offered.

"Soda's good," he said. Actually, Nic hasn't ever drunk anything like soda, so when he opened his and took a sip, he spit it out immediately.

"Yuck! What is that?" Nic asked, disgusted.

"It's just a lemon-lime soda," she told him, disgusted as well because he sprayed his saliva all over the coffee table. Then suddenly, his skin began to glow and was swiftly changing to a gleaming white. Rose's eyes glittered with anticipation.

"Um… Nic? Why is your skin turning a bright white? I mean, I know your last name is 'White' and all, but seriously, what's with your skin?" she asked him, trying to make it seem like she didn't know anything about his true identity.

"Wha—?" he began as he looked down at his arm. His eyes grew wide and he muttered, "Oh no! The potion's wearing off!"

"Excuse me? What did you say?" Rose asked pretending to be confused.

"Uh, nothing. I have to go," he said as he hastily made his way to the door. As he reached for the door knob, he watched in horror as his hand quickly formed into a glistening golden hoof. He felt his fur grow rapidly on all parts of his body and heard the distinguishing sound of cloth being torn. The hair on his head changed to a more distinct golden color and grew much longer while a golden tail found its way out of his ripped blue jeans. His face elongated and a rising bump on his forehead grew into a gleaming, unmistakable unicorn horn. The entire transformation took mere minutes and Rose finally gazed upon the missing unicorn from the secret grove. He slowly turned his head to face a _very_ pleased looking blonde.

"I _really_ don't like the look of that smile," Nic said. Suddenly, Rose frowned, and her eyebrows furrowed together.

"I didn't know unicorns could talk," she wondered aloud. "No matter. You won't be able to for long." Nic gulped as a devious smile played upon her lips. She dug in her back pocket for something, and as she yanked it out threateningly, Nic winced. In her hand was… a cell phone? She dialed a number and held the phone to her ear. As she waited for the line to be picked up, she tapped her foot impatiently. Only about several seconds passed by before Nic heard her say…

"This is Huntsgirl. Plans have changed. Get here now." Then, she put the phone back in her pocket and faced Nic with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

XXXXX

Jake flew as fast as he could to where Rose's uncle's apartment was, but he couldn't find a window that wasn't covered by blinds. _Where are they?_ he asked himself. Finally, he found a clear window, but what he saw through it made his scales tingle. In the room were Nic the unicorn and a smirking Huntsgirl. She was binding him with magical chains so he couldn't escape. Jake burst through the window without thinking.

"American Dragon!" Huntsgirl yelled. "How did you find me here?"

"Instinct, Baby. Instinct," he replied. "One of the many gifts the AmDrag has."

"What a coincidence. _I_ have a gift for you. A meeting with an old friend!" she replied laughing as a shadow thrust the dragon out of the window.

"You again!" Jake whined.

"What'ssss the matter? Don't you enjoy the few precioussss momentssss we sssspend together? I know I do," hissed the Shadow Creature. He laughed maniacally as he took Jake far away from Huntsgirl and Nic.

XXXXX

Huntsgirl sneered at the struggling unicorn. He was gagged and bound to the floor on his side. Both of them were before Huntsmaster as well as some select members from the Huntsclan. Huntsmaster was giving out orders for the Huntsclan while Huntsgirl was given the opportunity to sit comfortably and observe. Then, one of the members was chosen to kill the unicorn before the horn was removed. Huntsgirl didn't want Nic to die and wanted to say something to save his life, but she knew it would cause chaos within the Clan and Huntsmaster himself. She watched helplessly as a huge knife was sharpened. He walked over to a wide-eyed and fearful Nic. She held her breath and looked away as he raised the blade.

"Wait!" cried Huntsmaster. Huntsgirl exhaled and glanced at Huntsmaster hopefully. "I want it alive. I want to make sure the creature suffers when _I_ cut off its horn." He had one of the members help him off the couch, and he staggered to the terrified unicorn.

"Hand me the weapon," he ordered. "And hold it down." The weapon was what looked like a giant metal nail file. He placed the side on Nic's forehead and Nic began to tremble violently. Huntsgirl couldn't watch anymore. She closed her eyes and turned her head away from the scene. What she heard next was enough to make one nauseous. The file made a sickening noise as it went back and forth, but it was nothing compared to the screams that Nic cried out of utmost pain. She was forced to listen to the whole ordeal. Huntsgirl's eyes shone with tears, but she quickly blinked them away. She couldn't show weakness being this close to the other Huntsclan members and especially this close to Huntsmaster himself.

Once the horn was removed, she noticed the outcome of the horrific deed take effect instantaneously. Nic's glistening white coat faded to a dull light grey. His golden hooves turned black while his golden hair was now a dirty straw blonde. He gave a mournful 'neigh' as his ability to talk was also gone. Then, he was forced to get up as the Huntsclan members took him out of the room. Huntsgirl stayed behind to help Huntsmaster climb back onto his couch to rest.

"Take this," he said. She seized the horn from Huntsmaster's outstretched hand and carried it to the table where it was to be finely crushed. It was as hard as steel, but Huntsgirl perceived that it would be difficult to compress. She had a magical machine imported from one of their trading posts. It looked like a juicer that she had seen on TV once, but this machine was a little bigger and could crush anything that was deposited into it. She put the horn in the machine and waited patiently for it to be crushed. It didn't take very long and soon she was pouring the fine powder-like substance into a bowl. Then, Huntsgirl unwrapped Huntsmaster's bandages and sprinkled most of the powder directly on his wound. She watched as the powdered horn healed his injury and also restored the crazed vigor in Huntsmaster's eyes. He stretched for quite a long while and then turned his attention to Huntsgirl.

"You did very well, Thorn. I will trust you with more missions after this," he said. She beamed under her mask. "However, you are still not officially a member yet."

"Yes, I am hoping to change that very soon," she replied.

"Good. Now, come with me. We need to get everything ready to finally obtain the last ingredient." He grinned evilly and his eyes shone with a mad glint.

* * *

Okay, so there wasn't _that_ much action, but it was still pretty good, don't you think? It's my favorite chapter so far and also my longest by far (2,814 words!). I hope you had fun reading it 'cause I had fun writing it.

Anyway, I shan't update if you don't review!


	10. Chapter 10

Hello all. I only received three reviews this time. I used to get at least four or five. I'm not trying to sound greedy or anything; I was just wondering if my story is really getting so bad that only a few people are reading it now. Or are many of you just too lazy to leave a simple comment or two? Well, whatever it is, I want to thank KrazyShadowNinja and Worker72 for reviewing until the end. As a personal expression of gratitude, they were the very first to read the final ending before anyone else. :) Thanks so much! I also want to thank RadiantBeam for being the third reviewer. You're too kind.

I hope the rest of you lazy people enjoy Chapter 10, the last chapter of my fanfiction. :(

* * *

Chapter 10

The Shadow Creature held Jake several yards from the ground of an isolated alley. Moments before the boy collapsed in its powerful grasp, the creature dropped him, laughing maniacally. The cool air rushed past Jake's face, waking him from his drowsy stupor. A slight scream escaped his lips, and his eyes widened in fear as the pavement swiftly came up to meet him. He was two feet from plunging head first into the ground before the creature caught him. It soared back into the air and dropped him again. This time, however, Jake was ready. He quickly changed back into his dragon form and flew in the direction of Huntsmaster's place. He looked over his shoulder as he expected the Shadow Creature to be in hot pursuit, but thankfully, it didn't follow him. He shrugged off the uneasy feeling that suddenly appeared in his stomach and rushed to his destination.

When he finally returned to the window where he found Nic and Huntsgirl, they were gone. Silently kicking himself for letting the Huntsclan get a hold of the unicorn, he flew back to his grandpa's shop. As he walked through the backdoor, he was surprised to see Grandpa sitting in the middle of the room, alone and meditating. Jake thought it best not to disturb him, so he silently closed the door and tiptoed to the front of the shop. After several minutes, Grandpa came into the room. He took one look at his grandson and noted the apprehension in the boy's face.

"Do not worry, young one. Nic is still alive," he said.

"How do you know that?" Jake asked. Grandpa raised an eyebrow as though questioning Jake how he could ask such a thing. Jake understood the expression and added, "Never mind."

"He is still being held captive by the Huntsclan, though."

"Yeah, but Gramps, he's not a unicorn anymore," Jake explained, not able to look into the old man's face.

"This I know, but I have a plan." This time Jake's eyes met his grandpa's. They were calm and had a slight twinkle in them, which made Jake fell hopeful. "Fu is making a potion as we speak." This caught Jake off guard.

"A potion that will turn Nic back?" Jake asked, bewildered.

"Of course not! Use your head!" Grandpa shouted. "It will assist us in the transformation, though," he added. Jake was puzzled, so he decided to think about something less confusing. Finally, a question popped into his head.

"Hey G, why aren't you guarding the phoenix?"

"There is no need to guard her at this point," he said.

"Why not?" Jake asked, his face contorting in confusion once more.

"Because," he began, "we _want_ the Huntsmaster to finish the potion."

"Say _what_? Why? Grandpa, I don't understand."

"You will see," he said as a mischievous smile played upon the old man's lips.

XXXXX

Huntsmaster and Huntsgirl were in their lair looking over several maps which were splayed out on a long table. Numerous marks lay all over the maps signifying all of the places they've been to in search of the phoenix. They were looking over them for about a half an hour before Huntsmaster grew frustrated and swiped his hand over the surface, scattering the maps everywhere.

"We've searched every possible location I could think of!" he roared. Huntsgirl stood calmly at the table. She was too used to his sudden bursts of anger to be alarmed.

"We haven't searched _everywhere_," she said.

"I've told you before," he began impatiently. "Those insolent dragons wouldn't keep the bird in the same place that we attacked it earlier!"

"Maybe not, but perhaps that's exactly what they want us to think," she replied.

"Fine! If going there will make you stop bothering me about it, then go!" he spat.

Huntsgirl grabbed her staff, tapped it twice on the floor and disappeared. She was gone for fifteen minutes before she returned with a smug expression plastered on her face. She stood there with her hands behind her back and waited for Huntsmaster to acknowledge her return.

"It took you _that long_ to realize nothing was there?" Huntsmaster asked her rudely. She glared at him while he was busy looking over the maps. At last, she spoke.

"After analyzing the situation carefully, I soon discovered my chances of obtaining the feather myself," she replied calmly.

"What are you mumbling?" he said as it was obvious he was not paying any attention. She rolled her eyes with annoyance.

"The phoenix is still there," she said bluntly. Huntsmaster immediately stopped what he was doing and stared at her in disbelief. He considered the possibilities and then brushed the comment aside.

"Impossible," he stated simply. Huntsgirl sighed with frustration.

"Then where do you suppose I got this?" she asked him in a similar tone as she pulled out a dazzling golden feather from behind her back. Huntsmaster gazed at the feather hungrily and then shifted his attention to Huntsgirl.

"I specifically remember telling you that I wanted to get the feather myself," he said, his voice menacing. He advanced towards her and viciously snatched the elegant feather out of her hand.

_You're welcome_, she thought scathingly.

"How did you even manage to get this?" he asked.

"The phoenix was asleep. I snuck up behind her and plucked the feather before she knew what happened. She was furious and turned her head, most likely to harm me in some way, but I was already gone," Huntsgirl explained.

"Well, since you _did_ help me with my recovery, I will let your disobedience pass, but be warned," he said threateningly. Huntsgirl firmly nodded her head once in acknowledgement. He turned away from her and made his way to a huge cauldron. The potion inside it hissed furiously as Huntsmaster dropped the feather into the thick bubbling liquid. His eyes sparkled with malice in the pale golden light.

XXXXX

Grandpa and Jake flew in the direction of the Huntsmaster's lair with Fu Dog in Jake's arms.

"Yo, Fu," Jake panted. "You need to lose some pounds dawg. It feels like you're getting heavier each time I carry you." Fu glared at him and dug a claw into the dragon's soft underside, making him yelp with pain.

"That is enough you two! Now, focus! We have a great deal to do and not a lot of time to do it," Grandpa said.

They arrived at the Huntslair as a faint golden light shone from the entrance several yards away. The Huntsmen that were keeping guard didn't notice a thing as the threesome snuck past. Jake rolled his eyes at their complete lack of security and went in the direction of the light while Grandpa and Fu headed through a dark passageway leading downward. Jake crept up to the entrance and cautiously peered around the wall. The Huntsmaster was looming over a huge cauldron as the rest of the Huntsclan was circled around him. Huntsgirl was standing by a podium which held a big brown book.

"Thorn," Huntsmaster called, while he kept his eyes on the potion. "Bring me the book."

The dragon watched as she lifted the book off the podium and began to make her way towards her master. Jake jumped out from behind the wall and swiftly flew to Huntsgirl, snatching the book right out of her hands.

"Wassup, baby? You miss me?" Jake taunted. Huntsgirl glowered at him as he ascended out of reach.

"SEIZE HIM!" Huntsmaster bellowed, making some rubble fall from the ceiling.

_Okay, now all I have to do is stay up here until G shows up_, Jake thought. _Man, this book is heav—_ "Aaaahhh!" he yelled as several green blasts soared past his left side. He opened the book and began to flip through it quickly while trying to avoid the blasts of the Huntsclans' staffs at the same time. As he dodged one blast, another was waiting for him, singeing his tail. He dropped the book in surprise and the book plummeted to the floor. Huntsgirl caught it, but the book was too heavy for her to handle. She lost her grip. As it hit the floor, it broke in half and skid across the floor in separate directions. Jake nose-dived for the half closest to the cauldron. Huntsgirl ran for the same half. Jake arrived there first, but Huntsgirl was only seconds behind. She kicked the half of the book out of Jake's paws and twirled to kick him in the stomach. Jake doubled over and she grabbed the half of the book. As she examined the part of the book she had, her face dropped. The spell was near the beginning of the book and she was holding the end. She frantically searched for the other half all the while keeping the American Dragon in her sight.

Finally, she located the other half, but she didn't like who was holding it. Her eyes met with the blazing eyes of the Chinese Dragon. He smiled at her cunningly and gave the book to Fu, who extracted a piece of paper and a pencil from the wrinkles of his skin. Grandpa protected him from the advancing Huntsclan while he wrote down the spell. She also realized that they brought Nic, who was kicking at some members of the Huntsclan. When Fu was finished, he tore out the page of the book and stuffed it deep into his wrinkles so as not to be found.

Huntsgirl ran at them. She needed to get that piece of paper in Fu's paw. While Grandpa was fighting four Huntsclan members and Nic was busy with two, she took a flying leap over the two groups and landed right in front of Fu.

"Hand the paper over you pathetic excuse for a dog," she snarled. Fu looked up at her with wide, scared eyes. Then, he glanced over her shoulder and smiled.

"What are you grinning at?" she said as she took fleeting look over her shoulder. There was nothing behind her, but when she looked back at Fu, he was missing. Instead, a very cocky looking red dragon was before her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you expecting someone else?" he asked her arrogantly.

"You're dead dragon!" she yelled. She jumped in the air, spinning, with her feet towards Jake, aiming for his head. He dodged her easily, and as she sailed by, he kicked her in the stomach. She hit the wall and slid down. He began to walk over to her, but she got up quickly and vaulted for her staff that lay nearby. As Jake came closer, she swung at him with great force and hit Jake with the back end on his right side. He staggered. Huntsgirl swung at him again, twirling so the hit would have more force. As she brought the staff across the front of her, Jake grabbed the staff from behind at both ends, pinning her to his body. She fought back, throwing punches and kicking at him, but she missed every time.

Grandpa and Nic managed to clear a path towards the cauldron where Huntsmaster was watching the battle. He sneered at them as they began to walk in his direction.

"Give me that paper and maybe I'll let you live," he said as he snapped his fingers. Nothing happened. He looked around to see every single member of his Huntsclan on the floor and immobile.

"You were saying?" Fu scoffed. Huntsmaster looked worried. He nervously took a combat stance and waited for them to make the first move. Grandpa stepped forward. Huntsmaster sped towards him, but the dragon was too fast. Grandpa quickly leapt out of the way, stuck out his foot, tripping the Huntsmaster, and struck him hard on the back, making him fall to the floor. He didn't get up.

"Well, that was easier than I thought," said Grandpa, chuckling. As they made their way to the cauldron, Fu shoved some thick blue liquid into Nic's mouth. He swallowed it with difficulty.

"Yuck! That was disgusting! It was even worse than that purple stuff you made me drink before," he said. Then his eyes grew wide. "Hey! I'm talking! Cool potion."

"Nic! Stop fooling around and say the spell!" Jake grunted as he was still trying to restrain Huntsgirl. Fu held the paper in front of Nic so he could read it.

"Oh, right. Ahem, Power—"

"NO!" cried the Huntsmaster, and out of nowhere, he flung himself forward, knocking Fu to the floor. Huntsmaster scrambled for the piece of paper in the dog's fist, but Fu scrunched it up and threw it to Jake. The paper ball fell short and Huntsgirl struggled vigorously to free herself from the dragon's arms. He pushed Huntsgirl to the side while he dived for the paper. She grabbed his tail and pulled him back, making his fingers miss the ball by inches. Huntsmaster snatched it from the floor in a very cocky manner and began to straighten it out. Jake managed to shake Huntsgirl off his tail. He flew towards the Huntsmaster and took the paper from his hands before he knew what happened. Jake straightened the rest of it out during his flight and landed next to Nic.

"Hurry!" Jake shouted, holding the paper in front of Nic as Fu did. Various members of the Huntsclan began to run at top speed towards the horse and the dragon, so Nic read in an extremely rapid pace.

"Powers of the spell arise,

Course unseen across the skies,

I call you near within this fire,

Grant to me what I desire!"

Jake hastily blew on the paper, enflaming it, and dropped the burning paper into the potion. As soon as the paper came into contact with the bubbling liquid, an amazingly bright yellow light burst out from the cauldron, blinding everyone.

The light began to dim, but a dazzling white glow was surrounding Nic. His mane and tail were golden once again, and protruding from his forehead was one long golden horn. The entire Huntsclan gasped as their eyes settled on the unicorn that they destroyed earlier. Huntsmaster gazed into the cauldron and groaned. Not even a tiny drop was left of the potion.

"We will meet again, dragon!" Huntsmaster shouted. With the Huntsclan defeated once again, Grandpa, Jake, Fu, and Nic began to make their way back to Grandpa's shop.

"The magical creatures have found an inconspicuous location for their secret grove at last," Grandpa began. "You will be able to return to them when they come to get you at midnight." Nic nodded his head.

"Thanks for everything, Shao Lei. And thanks to you too, Jake. I guess I really should have listened to you," Nic said. Jake gave him a shocked look.

"Yeah, well, maybe I shouldn't have been so mean to you earlier, and then none of this would have happened," Jake replied. The boys gave each other weak smiles.

"So, we're good now?" asked Nic.

"Yeah, we're good."

"How ssssentimental," hissed a voice Jake knew only too well. "And here I thought you only had feelingssss for me. I'm hurt." Jake looked around and spotted a pair of glowing red eyes behind him.

"What do you want now?" Jake spat.

"Why, I thought you knew. We have ssssome unfinisssshed businessss, little lizzzzard." Jake looked around for Grandpa and Fu, but they went on ahead of him and Nic to give the boys some time alone to work out their issues.

"You ssssee, I wassss fired from my previoussss employer; ssssomething about not needing my sssservicessss anymore." He appeared to be not at all upset with being let go. In fact, he seemed to be grinning. "Sssso now, I get to kill you like I sssshould have done earlier." Jake was beyond worried. He didn't get a chance to ask Grandpa about the Shadow Creature let alone how to defeat it. The creature observed him with careful eyes, watching his every move. Suddenly, Jake changed into his dragon form and jumped into the air, but the creature anticipated this and was upon Jake in a second. The impact of the creature's tackle was too much for Jake to handle though as they both went barreling into a nearby wall, separating Jake from the creature's grasp. Jake landed on the ground on all-fours and was panting furiously. White spots danced before his eyes. He shook his head as a means to clear it, but instead, the motion made him woozy.

"Aaaww, poor little dragon. I guessss I'm jusssst too much for you. Oh, but don't worry. I'll make thissss quick," it hissed as a hand materialized from the creature's blackness and began to strangle him. Jake made choking noises, and his eyes grew wide and fearful. Then, Nic came up behind the creature and jabbed it with his horn. The creature screamed in agony and let go of Jake, who slid to the ground gasping for air. When Jake looked up, the creature appeared as though he was being torn in different directions, then it finally split into thousands of pieces, scattering everywhere and then evaporated.

"Whoa! How did you…?" Jake asked.

"Not only can unicorns heal, but we can also take life away when the occasion calls for it," Nic replied, grinning. Jake smiled gratefully at the unicorn.

"You sure you have to go back so soon?" Jake asked, patting him on his thick neck. Nic only laughed.

XXXXX

When Rose entered the classroom of her Mythology class, she almost walked right into a group of girls surrounding Jake Long. Her curiosity got the best of her, so she conspicuously inched closer to hear what they were saying.

"Where's your cousin, Jake?" one of the girls asked him.

"Oh, uh Nic had to go back home. He _was_ only visiting after all," he replied. The girls moaned disappointedly. Rose couldn't help but feel a little sad as well. He was fun to hang around; and not to mention _very_ cute. _Oh well_, she thought as she sighed heavily. She pushed those incommodious thoughts away and began to make her way towards her seat. However, one thing still bothered Rose as she sat down: How was Jake _really_ affiliated with that unicorn anyway? He couldn't have possibly known what Nic truly was… could he? Maybe there was something more to Jake Long than he made people believe…

**.:THE END:.

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Well, that's it. I hope you all enjoyed reading my story. I want to thank every single person who reviewed again. You guys are so completely awesome, and I hope many good things come your way! Thanks. :)


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